Cemetery notes and/or description:Opened at the founding of Liberia in the 1820s, Palm Grove Cemetery was Monrovia's main burying ground until recent years. During Liberia's civil wars of the 1980s and 1990s, combatants frequently used the site's concrete tombs for cover and concealment, and many fighters were also buried here. More recently, the cemetery was a haven for illegal drug users and the homeless, and was also used as a public dump. In 2007 President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf began a beautification project for Monrovia using World Bank funding. As part of this effort, the Ministry of Public Works began improvements to the cemetery, including erection of a high wall topped with barbed wire and installation of gates that will be used to limit access only to mourners, researchers, and the families of the deceased.